Avatar: The Earth Girl's Secret
by Zeeva
Summary: On Aang, Katara, and Sokka's journey, they have met with Prince Zuko multiple times and have grown to hate him. But what happens when they meet someone who hates Zuko on a much higher level? When they meet Zeeva, a girl living in the Earth nation.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! So I know this story has gone neglected for a long time now, but a couple of recents faves of it have pushed me to work on it again. **

**To start this thing back up, I'm reloading edited (mostly) chapters. They won't be 100% perfect, but some obvious things shoudl be fixed.**

**So Disclaimer: I didn't own Avatar when I first posted this, and I still don't now, but I do own those few OC's**

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**Chapter 1: The Earth Bending Master**

A shadow grew over the small town of earth benders, as a large flying bison, called Appa, flew over head. On top rode a young water bender, about the age of 12 ½. She had long, brown hair, that matched her tan skin, and her blue eyes shined from the sun. Her older brother, who was about 15, was taller, with the same colored skin and big, blue eyes that just called for attention. The third rider was the last air bender, the Avatar, the soon to be master of bending all four elements, who was 12. He was bald with pale skin, and covered in blue arrows, similar the one on his flying bison's head. They all where were amazed at the small town below. Though they had seen Earth Nation towns before; this one had something different about it. The ground was so much greener, and it seemed to be risen above the woods that surrounded it. There were little shops, right next to large ones, and carts beside those.

"WOW!" yelled the young Avatar. "Look down there!" He pointed to a group of women rode into town on ostrich-horses from the woods.

"Aang," the water bender said shaking her head, "If you get so excited over just seeing it, we might as well just stay up here."

"No, Katara, I wanna go see the people, and ask them if I can find a master to teach me earth bending," he replied.

"Why here, Aang?" Katara's older brother asked, while eating a bag of seal jerky.

"Because, Sokka, it's right by the fire nation," he said, using air bending to make himself comfortable enough to explain, "If we're right by to the fire nation, then we don't have to travel for a long time to find a fire bending master that will teach me." Sokka was listening, until Momo, a lemur from the Southern Air Temple, had stolen his jerky.

"That's odd," Katara said, looking down at the town, "Why is it that they're so close to the fire nation, and yet they look like they don't even know that there's a war going on?"

"Beats me," Aang said.

"Maybe," Sokka started, "They are alliances with the fire nation." He grabbed his jerky from Momo, and sat back down.

The others shrugged their shoulders. They had heard all of Sokka's stories, and though this one had a possibility of being true, they didn't think so. After all, the town was so peaceful, and it was full of men. They knew that anyone one the side of the fire nation, would have gone to war to fight.

They landed the bison, and went to town. They had to stock up on food, find a place to stay, ask about masters, and all before dark, which was only an hour or so away. They split up for the separate jobs. Katara went to get food, and find shelter, Aang went around asking people about any earth bending masters, and they left Sokka to stay with the Appa and Momo.

"Excuse me," Katara asked a cart woman selling fruit, "Would you happen to know a place where some friends of mine and I can stay for a while?" She picked up a papaya and checked to see if it was ripe, as she waited for an answer.

The woman scratched her head and rubbed her chin, until she came up with an answer. "There's an inn where you can stay." Katara looked at her and put down the papaya. The woman nodded and continued, "It's about 20 miles west of here!" She declared with a smile.

Katara sighed, "That's a little too far," she said and thanked the woman as she paid for the fruit.

Aang walked around the town and asked several people about finding a master, when a little boy came up to him and said, "There are no masters in the town, but there is one that works here." Aang looked at the boy, confused. "He lives in the woods, no one's ever been there before, but I know where he works, I can take you there." Aang smiled, and told the boy to lead the way. The boy gestured Aang to follow him, and they walked up to a small candy store.

"He works in a candy store?" Aang asked, now even more confused.

The boy smiled and said, "Yep, I come here everyday!" Aang smacked his head, and said, "I don't need a master in candy making, I need a master in earth bending!"

The boy looked at him, and replied in a sad voice, "But… but he is a master at earth bending. His wife, Mrs. Choso, makes the candy. He just helps." The boy was close to tears, when a young woman, came out, and asked what was happening.

"I'm sorry Ma'am! I didn't mean to do it! I was gonna apologize, just as you came out! I'm sorry!" Aang pleaded his case to the woman.

She picked the boy up, and just smiled at him. "It's alright, she said in a gentle voice. "I heard that you were looking for an earth bender, and to be brought here by a little candy loving boy, can be misleading." Aang sighed in relief. The woman was beautiful. She had long brown hair, like Katara, pulled back in a bun, green eyes, and a small nose. She looked so young. "I'm Mrs. Choso. You're looking for my husband, Mr. Choso. He's in back; I'll get him for you." She walked in side, still holding the boy, and Aang followed her.

She brought him in to the back room, and he froze as a large man stood up from a table covered in rock candy. He was very muscular, had the same green colored eyes as Mrs. Choso, and short dark brown hair. When he stood up, he looked sternly down at Aang, making Aang gulp and begin to shake in fear.

"This is my husband, Jung Choso. He's an earth bending master." Aang stared at the large man, and forced a smile and wave. "He… He… Hello. I… I'm Aang, the Avatar," he said, then closing his eyes, only to open them to the couple laughing.

The man smiled at him and said, "Nice to meet you Aang. So if the Avatar is here, looking for a master, then you've already mastered water and air, correct?"

Aang nodded, afraid of the man becoming scary again.

"Then I'll be happy to teach you. You can stay with my wife and me, that is, if you don't mind my three daughters as well," he said with a laugh.

Aang smiled back and said, "Sure, but I'm here with two friends, do you mind if they stay too?"

Jung looked at him suspiciously, and said that it was fine.

"Okay! I'll go get 'em. Katara will be happy I found us a place to stay!"

"Katara? So you have a girl friend?" Jung asked.

Aang looked back, and grew redder than red. He had liked Katara for a long time now, but they weren't boyfriend and girlfriend. "Ah… No, Sir. She's just a friend, her brother Sokka is my other friend." The couple smiled and told him to go get his friends.

"You don't know anywhere close by?" Katara asked a man selling bread, "Oh, alright, thank you anyway."

"Katara!" Aang yelled as he came towards her.

She looked at him surprised, an asked, "What is it Aang? Did you find a master?"

"Even better!" He replied out of breath, "I found a master, and he said we can stay with him!" Katara was relieved. The two went back to Appa to get Sokka, and the animals, then to the candy shop, where they met the Choso's. Sokka was just as scared as Aang was at the first sight of Jung, and twice as relieved. They left the shop, and headed into the woods.

The trees were dark, dead, and scary as they continued their walk. There was less grass and the road was filled with rocks. The couple seemed used to the woods, but the three held on to each other, hoping nothing would jump out at them. They came up to a large log cabin looking house, and the trees looked as though they regained life. The grass was green again, and there were even flowers. When they arrived, two girls ran out of the house, screaming.

"Mom! Dad!" they yelled. They ran into their parents' arms. The girls shared their parents' looks exactly, brown hair, green eyes, and all.

"Zeeva's gone, again!" One girl yelled. Her parents looked shocked, and ran into the house, leaving the girls behind. With a clearer view of them, Aang, Katara, and Sokka could tell that one was taller, and they had to be about their age. Katara walked up to them, introducing herself and her friends, and asked who they were.

"I'm Shaya," the taller girl said, "I'm 16."

"And I'm Kaysa. I'm 14." The three introduced themselves, and Sokka asked, "Who's this Zeeva person?"

"She's our middle sister, she's 15," Shaya said, "She runs off a lot, and it takes forever to find her."

"But she's usually at the springs. She likes it there, but we wouldn't panic as much if she just told us where she as going," Kaysa finished.

They all went into the house to see what was going on. When they got in, Mr. and Mrs. Choso were rummaging through everything to find Zeeva.

Katara's eye caught a portrait on the wall. She recognized everyone, but one. Mr. and Mrs. Choso stood in the back with Kaysa and Shaya in front, looking like twins, and everyone was smiling, except for the one she couldn't identify. It was a girl with pale skin, freckles, serious, gold eyes, and black hair in short, messy pig tails. She had a scar on her neck and wasn't smiling, and the only person Katara could place her as, was Zeeva.

"Shaya, is that your sister?" She asked and pointed to the girl in the portrait.

Shaya nodded. The boys had looked too, and Sokka laughed. "That's your sister? She's doesn't look a thing like any of you, she's ugly, and…"

"And what?" He heard an unfamiliar, dark, feminine, voice and turned around, with the others. Standing in the window was a beautiful girl with black hair, and gold eyes. She was skinny and her skin was pale. She was smirking at Sokka, and said, "Well, go on, continue, what you were saying." Sokka blushed and looked at the girl.

"Are you a friend of Zeeva's?" Katara asked. The girls laughed, and the girl with black hair looked at her. "No," she said, "I _am_ Zeeva. If you can't tell by looking at Shaya and Kaysa, that's a portrait from about 2 years ago." She stood next to the girls, and even besides their facial features, they looked very different.

One other difference was their clothes. Shaya and Kaysa wore green shirts, only different in embroidered designs, and brown skirts that flowed in the slight breeze, while Zeeva wore long, loose green shirt that was just at knee height. It was shredded at the short sleeves, and at the bottom of the shirt. She wore it like a dress, tied with a black cloth about her waist, and at her feet were off-white socks that were strapped to her legs, due to being way too big, and they were inside a pair of black shoes. Not to mention, Shaya's hair was nicely brushed, Kaysa's was in a bun like her mother's, while Zeeva's hair was in a messy, loose green wrap on top of her head.

Sokka's jaw dropped as he looked back at the picture. "No way," He said, "That can't be you. You look too different for that to be only a two year old portrait."

"Well it is, so get over it," she replied. The girls' parents ran in and started to yell at Zeeva, after hugging her. She apologized, and they all went to eat dinner. Shaya and Kaysa shared a room, so at night, Katara stayed in Zeeva's room, and the boys stayed in the living room. The next day, Aang would start his training. As for Katara, she felt that there were one too many differences between Zeeva and the other girls, and tomorrow she was going to find out what.

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**What could she be hidding? Well I know, but you'll have to keep on reading. PLEASE R&R!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Another replaced chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar... :( but the Choso family is mine :)**

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**Chapter 2: Fire**

That morning, Katara and the others watched Aang train with Jung outside, and he wasn't doing well, at all. Shaya and Kaysa showed him their techniques, and they were exceptional. They were able to move a gigantic rock easily on their own. While, the only thing Aang could move was a rock about the size of his fist, and he still managed to lose control, managing to hit Sokka in the head. Kaysa and Shaya helped him to the house, for some first aid, while Katara, Aang, and Zeeva stayed behind.

"Zeeva," Aang asked, "Why didn't you show me your earth bending?"

"Huh?" She replied, "Oh, well, I'm not an earth bender." Both Aang and Katara looked at her confused.

"But," Katara started, "How come your sisters are? Isn't your mother an earth bender too?" She nodded, and explained, nervously, "My… Great Grandfather wasn't an earth bender; I guess I got it from him." It was understandable, neither of Katara's parents were water benders, but she was.

"Katara, you're a water bender, right?" Zeeva asked. Katara nodded with a smile, and told her about how she was the only water bender left in the South Pole, and how she had trained at the North Pole with Aang. Aang nodded in agreement to everything she said.

When Katara was done, all Zeeva could say was "Wow." She looked at Katara, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Aang trying to practice, again. "Aang, you have to relax. You're to tense, like a fire bender, you've gotta breath," she said.

"What do you mean?" Katara asked.

Zeeva looked as though she'd said something mistakenly. "Well… I mean… we do live near the fire nation, do you think I've never seen one before? They're supposed to be really relaxed, in a way, when they fight. 'Course that is if they're good. Some fight angrily and aimlessly. They aren't good at all." She smiled at Katara and Aang.

Aang quickly forgot her reaction, and started using Zeeva's advice. Katara, on the other hand, wondered why.

Zeeva continued to help Aang, until her father came back and took over. The rest of the afternoon went like this, and Katara continued to think about Zeeva.

"Uncle!" A 16-year-old boy yelled for an old man. The boy was tall, and bald besides a black ponytail held back with a red wrap. He was wearing a Fire Nation soldier's uniform: head to toe in red. His eyes were gold; his left eye was scarred with a large burn.

The old man was shorter than the boy by about half a foot, with a head full of gray hair, some pulled back in a bun, and he had a long matching gray beard. He, too, wore red, but a red robe as oppose to the soldier's uniform.

They stood on a Fire Nation ship, full of other soldiers and on their way into the Fire Nation itself. The old man came up to the boy with a somewhat annoyed look on his face, for he had warned the boy what would happen if he went there.

The boy was the banished prince of the Fire Nation. He was told to never go back unless he had caught the Avatar, and regained his honor.

"Yes, Prince Zuko," the old man said with a slightly aggravated look on his face.

The boy looked at him, with about the same annoyance. "I told you I'm not turning back," Zuko said.

The old man nodded, "I know," he replied, "What did you call me for?"

Zuko looked back towards the on coming shores of the nation, and explained to his uncle, "The Avatar is somewhere nearby here. If I catch him, I would have regained my rightful place at the thrown," his speech of honor wasn't a new one. He looked to his Uncle and explained with anger in his tone, "Tell all the men on board to not mention a word of this to anyone here!"

His uncle could see what Zuko truly felt. He felt that this was his last chance. If he failed it would be all over, and he would have no chance in returning home. "Yes, Prince Zuko," his uncle said as he turned to go below deck and tell the men.

Zuko looked out towards shore, again. It was the first time in two years since he had been there. He was forced to leave by his father, Fire Lord Oazi. After telling a general that his plan to sacrifice young soldiers as a distraction in the war was inhuman, he had offended his father, and had to fight him. When he refused, he was banished and with his uncle, retired General Iroh, and the large burn on his face. They returned for one reason, and one reason only, to find the Avatar. If the banished prince brought his father the only thing that could stop him, the Avatar, he would allow Zuko back. However, it was not that easy.

He went below deck to his room, for he had to rest before he could even think of confronting his father. He removed his armor and lay down on his small bed in his chamber. Lying down, he stared at his steal ceiling.

There was one thing Zuko was looking forward to on his return. He closed his eyes and began to think to himself. He pictured a girl with pale skin and freckles. She had short hair, only about shoulder length, and gold eyes. "Welcome back, Zuko!" She said with a smile and in a cute little girl voice. She embraced him, and Zuko joined her in he embrace. She looked up at him with her small smile shining brightly. She was only some bit younger than he was, and he smiled back down on her. He smiled, as he thought of the girl in his slight slumber.

"Zuko!" General Iroh yelled through the ship. Zuko jumped from his bed, to look at his door. The image of the girl was gone, and all that lay before him was his uncle. "What is it, Uncle?" He asked annoyed, as he looked at him, he began to put his armor back on.

"There is a blockade," he responded out of breath, "You should come see." The two ran up deck, and sure enough, a blockade intersected their path in to the Fire Nation's waters.

Zuko looked around the blockade, and found a space between two ships. "Go through there," he commanded. The ship started towards the gap, at high speed. Zuko kept his eyes on the gap as well, as it began to shrink.

"Prince Zuko?" General Iroh questioned his nephew in the situation.

"We'll make it, Uncle," he reassured. The ship gained more speed, and just made it in between the two other ships before the gap closed.

Zuko glanced at the crewmembers among the ships, all looking at him with confused looks on their faces. They were ordered to keep him out, but didn't know why, after all, it was a Fire Nation ship.

Zuko ignored the looks and continued his way into the nation's waters. His ship came up to a large dock, and he told his crew to tie the ship up. He and General Iroh had another appointment that day. They had to convince the Fire Lord to let them stay, without telling anyone else of the Avatar. They walked up a stairway covered in soldiers, all looking aggravated at the two. They entered the palace, and continued their walk to meet with Fire Lord Oazi. When they entered the meeting room, he was not happy to see them.

"What are you doing here?" He yelled at them, mostly at his son, who was trying his hardest to look brave. The truth was, he was terrified. It was his idea, but he was scared out of his mind at the thought of what his father might do to him.

"We came here for shelter, Brother," Iroh explained.

Zuko nodded. At least one of them had the strength to talk to him. He watched and nodded with General Iroh as he told his brother of their journey to find the Avatar, led them back to the Fire Nation. Zuko tried not to make eye contact with his father, but agreed to everything that his uncle said. In the end, his father's angry expressions softened a bit.

He looked down at his son in annoyance, but sighed. "I see," he said. For the first time since they had arrived, Zuko looked at his father. "I'll let you stay, but if in 1 week, you have not found the location of the Avatar, you will be sent away, again."

Zuko looked at his father, surprised, then bowed to him gratefully. "Thank you, Father. I will find the Avatar, and I will bring him to you as soon as I do."

"Right," He agreed, "But you are my son, so I must ask…"

Zuko looked up at his father in slight confusion. "What?" He asked.

"Have you met any girls that you would like to marry?" The Fire Lord finished.

Zuko and Iroh could only stare at this question. They were speechless.

Zuko blushed at the sudden question. "Uh- uh- no… no I haven't, why?" He asked with a sign of fear in his voice. As much as he was glad his father made no attempt to strike him, Zuko thought that that would have been a lot better than his question.

"Because you know damn well that you are of the marring age, and _if_ you do return, I expect you to have already chosen a bride," he explained.

Zuko stared at his father. It was true, he was of the age, but that was not on his mind at the moment, at least not entirely. "Well," he started, "I do have a question to ask you that may, or may not, answer your question." The Fire Lord looked at him. "Is… is… is Zeeva here?"

General Iroh and the Fire Lord looked at him, just as Zuko and Iroh had at the Fire Lord.

"Wh- what?" The Fire Lord questioned.

Zuko blushed quickly, then tried to cover up what seemed to be a mistake. "I- I mean… Oh, forget it. I'm sorry to have wasted your time, Father."

"I believe he is referring to his old play mate, Zeeva. Is she here?" Iroh told his brother.

"UNCLE!" He yelled to stop his uncle's thoughts, for they were true. He, however, was too late.

"Oh," his father replied, "I understand, but…" Zuko looked up to his father as he said, "She killed herself not long after you left two years ago."

The look Zuko was giving his father, turned into sudden heartbreak, but he didn't show it. He simply walked out of the room, after silently saying that he would be at the ship, leaving General Iroh and his brother, alone.

_VOOSH!_ The sound of another rock flying off another tree filled the yard, again.

Aang had continued to practiced, and continued to fail. He just couldn't do it.

Zeeva and Katara knew it was wrong, but they continued to laugh whenever Sokka, or someone besides them, got hit with an uncontrolled stone. Kaysa and Shaya tried to show him, once more, but the sun began to sink, and they left their teachings for dinner. Katara hadn't found out anything about Zeeva all day. All they talked about was she, Aang, and Sokka. She hadn't gotten anywhere. They walked into the house and had dinner, then went to get ready for bed.

As the girls changed, Katara couldn't hold back any more. She was going to get some information out of Zeeva if it killed her. "Hey, Zeeva-"

"I'm gonna go to the spring. If they ask, so I don't get yelled at again, tell them. Ok, Katara?" Zeeva cut her off. All Katara could do was nod. She had to admit defeat, and wait to talk to her tomorrow.

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**Very elusive that girl is. Be as determind as Katara and R&R**


	3. Chapter 3

**More replacements**

**Disclamer: I don't own the Avatar (but then again, niether does Zuko). But I do claim the Choso family**

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**Chapter 3: The Spring**

Zeeva wanted to get out of the house as soon as possible. She was so stressed. Watching Aang attempt earth bending was just too much for her, and trying to keep quiet about talking about her self to Katara. Zeeva was wiped. She ran through the woods, and started to walk and sneak as she got closer to a spring that was over by a waterfall. She smiled as she approached, and walked over to the spring.

It was quiet. It normally was, for she was the only one that knew about as far as she knew. She watched a lunar butterfly fly in the star lit sky. The sound of the waterfall soothed her thoughts, and she checked once more to see if any one else was around. When she declared the coast clear, she began to undress. She laid her clothes on a rock, took down her hair, and stepped in the bubbling spring.

As she sat there, the water just up to her pale and fragile neck, she stared up to the sky and thought to herself. Her time at the spring was the only time she ever had to her self. After all, she lived with both over protective parents and two even more protective sisters. This was the only time that if she began to think out loud, no one could actually respond or two girls couldn't come in screaming because of a little spider.

She sat back and laughed about the day's events. Then, as her mind began to drift, and she started to fall into a light sleep, she thought of someone else, someone she hadn't thought of for a long time.

She walked into a room; it was empty, except for some bedroom furniture. She looked around to find another thing in the room: a note. She opened it up and read its contents.

"Dear Zeeva," it said, "I was afraid to tell you in person what exactly happened at the Agni Kai. The truth is I lost. Father is sending me away. I was afraid to tell you. I'll come back though, I promise. I'll come and find you. I'm sorry."

She threw the letter on the bed, and ran to the docks. She stood on the docks, and tried to fight her way through, but when she got through, it was too late. "STOP!" She yelled reaching out to a sailing ship as tears streamed down her face. A boy on the ship, he had a bandage wrapped around his left eye, looked towards her then looked away in shame. She slowly lowered her hand, and fell to her knees on the dock. As people left, she stayed, crying into her hands.

Her eyes shot open as she listened to rustling bushes. She dove under so only her eyes showed above the water. A deer came out of the woods, and Zeeva sighed with relief as she came back up. Moving over to the side of the spring, she leaned over. "Well that was odd," she said to herself. Not only was the dream itself odd, but it wasn't a dream. It was a memory. A memory she had long forgotten, and didn't care to remember.

She used her hand to push the hair out of her face, and looked out to the woods. She turned around shocked as she heard two voices. As the voices came closer they became very familiar.

"It's half a mile this way!" The first voice said.

"No way, I remember! It was a quarter mile that way!" The second voice argued back.

Zeeva sighed once more, and yelled towards the voices, "You're both wrong. It's two feet in front of you!"

The bushes began to move again, and Kaysa and Shaya's heads poked out. "Oh," they said in a synchronized way.

Zeeva shook her head and asked the girls to pass her clothes.

"Zeeva," Kaysa started, "why did you come here, again?"

"'Cause it's the only place where I can get away from you two," she replied. This was true, though they found her this time, it was only the second time they ever had, and the last time was by accident. Shaya looked over to Zeeva's pile of clothes and picked up the thing on top: a gold medallion. "Why do you still have this, Zee?" She asked.

Zeeva pulled on her green, tattered dress, and looked at the piece of jewelry. "I don't know, really," she explained "I guess a part of me thinks that _that_ should be my reminder." She finished, pointing at the medallion.

Kaysa looked at the medallion, then back at Zeeva. "Didn't _he_ give this to you?" She asked her big sister, who was now standing frozen in her tracks. Kaysa looked away, and started to kick herself, mentally, in the head. She knew very well that she was right, and that that was an idiotic thing to ask. The only thing that could scare Zeeva like that was even the slightest mention of _him_.

Zeeva came back to her senses, and nodded. She grabbed her belt, and Shaya and Kaysa continued to talk to her as she got dressed.

"So why were you to looking for me anyway," she finally asked.

The girls looked at her shocked as they remembered why they came there in the first place. "Oh yeah!" Shaya exclaimed, "We went to go talk to you and Katara, but she said you came here."

"That was an hour ago, as you know, we got lost," Kaysa added.

Zeeva laughed and tied her hair up, put the medallion on, and hid it under her top. "Okay then, let's head back!" She said with a smile on her face. The girls looked at each other. The sudden change in Zeeva's mood was _scary_.

Despite the odd change, the girls followed Zeeva back home and they joined Katara in Zeeva's room. Katara welcomed them back, and the girls got changed into sleepwear.

Kaysa and Shaya wore matching nightgowns, Zeeva wore a pair of baggy brown pants with a sleeveless top, and Katara wore an old, out grown nightgown of Kaysa's.

"So why did you go to the spring, Zeeva? And why did it take Kaysa and Shaya so long to find you?" Katara asked.

Zeeva glared at her sisters, and explained.

Katara gave the girls the same look Zeeva did, and laughed. "Well, that explains a lot!" She said. The others laughed with her, and she continued. "But Zeeva, what did you have to think about?"

Kaysa and Shaya looked towards her, too. Zeeva hadn't told them yet either.

She blinked, and told them, "Just the day's events, you know!" She finished it off with a nervous laugh. The others continued to stare. None of them were buying it. Zeeva looked at her unamused audience and decided to end the show, "Well, would you look at the time! I'm gonna hit he hay. See ya in the morning!" She climbed into bed, and lay down. The others shrugged, and left. That was the last they were going to get out of her.

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**Oooo flash backs, always fun. R&R!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Another chapter replaced!**

**Disclaimer: I own the OC's, but not everyone else :(**

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**Chapter 4: Girl's Day Out**

The next morning, the girls found themselves alone. A note Mrs. Choso left on the table had explained that the boys went fishing, and she would be at the shop.

The girls weren't happy, they were ecstatic. A day without the boys (which meant no need for first aid) meant a day the girls could do girl things, which Katara knew she needed it, desperately.

The girls went into town, trying to avoid the candy shop, knowing that if Mrs. Choso saw them, they would end up working there all day. The sisters had these days a lot, so they knew how to spend it, with their best friend, Emi.

Emi was a little younger than Zeeva, but older than Kaysa, so she fit in just fine. She was the same height, too with dark brown hair, and a curvy body. Her eyes where different colors: one was blue, the other green. When the girls got to Emi's house, she answered the door and gave each of them a hug. She was strong, but not as strong as Zeeva; their hug was more of a contest to see who could crush whom first. Zeeva won.

They headed out to the beach, it was a long walk, but they were used to it. Even though Katara had never been there she walked a lot with the boys, when she wasn't flying on Appa, anyway. At the beach, the girls stripped down to the least amount of clothing they could wear, without being nude, and ran into the rough waves.

The beach was beautiful. The water was so blue, and the sand was whiter than Zeeva's pale skin, and rocks surrounded it. They were there to mostly to keep ships out while people swam, but they made wonderful tide pools for animals to live in, as the girls found out. They wondered around there during every swimming break.

"By the way my brother said it, I think we should be out of here before sunset on the fifth day," Iroh explained to his nephew. Zuko was sitting on his bed, while his uncle talked to him and he was staring at the floor. How could he not? He just found out his old friend had committed suicide, and he didn't know why.

"I know you are upset, Zuko," his uncle tried to comfort him, "but it is done, and it could not be helped. She had to have had her reasons."

Zuko put his hand on his forehead, and ran it down over his eyes. Iroh was right, but it wasn't going to satisfy him. He had to know why, how, and if she said anything before she committed her sinful deed.

The whole night, Zuko lay in his room, alone. This morning was the first time anyone had come to see him. That whole night, he thought of reasons why, but none had come to him. He figured that he would speak to his father, again, that night. For now, he had to find the Avatar. Using Iroh's logic, he only had four days to find the Avatar, and the answers he searched for.

He stood up from his bed, and he and his uncle left to scout out a local earth kingdom town. It was a good place to start, a logical place for the Avatar to go. They loaded their rhinos, and headed off.

When they grew close to approaching the town, Zuko commanded that the other two or three men stay behind with the rhinos. This town stayed out of the war zone, and that made that Fire Nation happy. If a town this closed were to rebel, it would do great damage. Towns like this one were close enough to woods, which they shared with the Fire Nation that they could easily sneak into the fire nation, and create chaos. Leaving everyone behind, besides Iroh, could only make there visit easier.

When they walked through the market, Zuko had to keep an eye on his uncle to make sure he did not wonder off into any shops. That, however, was easier said than done. Iroh walked into shop after shop, and the only thing he could say to his nephew was, "This may be the last time we may come this close to the fire nation, let me enjoy it while I can."

Zuko could only go along with it. He followed his uncle to another shop, and while he was in, Zuko spotted five girls down by the shore. He walked over closer; to see what five girls could be doing down there. They looked somewhat near his age; didn't they have jobs, or classes, or something? He wondered, but watched as they played.

Two girls looked so much alike, he could tell from even his distant spot, that they were sisters, and the one with them had dark brown hair, looking black from where he stood. The other two, he couldn't see their faces. One had black hair, tied up in a ponytail, the other had long brown hair, and seemed a little familiar. He squinted to see why, and his eyes widened when he received his answer. It was the "water tribe peasant" that traveled with the Avatar.

He looked around to see where Iroh had wandered off to, but he didn't completely worry. He had just narrowed down his search to the house containing the other four girls. He just had to find out where they lived. Then he could question them on the whereabouts of the Avatar.

Iroh, on the other hand, was far from finding the hiding place of the Avatar. He had wondered in to yet another store, a candy store at that. He looked over at the display of chocolate animals. His eyes wandered over to a shelf of rock candy.

"That was just made this morning," a feminine voice said to him from behind. He turned around to a short woman with long brown hair and green eyes. "It flies off the shelves so fast, we make a new batch every morning and afternoon," she continued.

Iroh laughed and said, "Well, if it's that good, I shall buy some for myself." The woman smiled, and motioned to the checkout counter. He walked over, and began to dig through a small pouch for the money, when his eye caught a picture on the counter. It was a picture of the woman with a man, and three smiling girls, all goofing around. The whole family looked so alike, except for the size difference between the woman and man, and one of the girls.

"Is this your family?" Iroh asked.

The woman smiled and nodded. She picked up the picture and told him, "We had this done recently, we are still waiting for a larger one we are putting in the house," she pointed to the girls and continued, "these are my daughters. Shaya, the oldest, will be 17 in three months. Oh, they make me feel so old!" She laughed, and handed the bag of rock candy to Iroh.

"Don't say that. You look very young, you fooled me!" They laughed and Iroh left with a sweet good-bye. Coming back out to the street, he saw his nephew, looking confused.

"Uncle!" He called. He walked over, catching sight of the bag. "What did you get?" He couldn't help but ask. Iroh had gone into so many stores, and not bought a thing, what could have possibly caught his interest?

Iroh explained his rock candy, and asked what his nephew had been doing while he was shopping. Zuko informed how he saw the water tribe girl, and his plan to catch the Avatar this time.

Iroh could only wish Zuko luck, because out of the millions of plans Zuko had thought up of, none of them had truly "worked."

Zuko notified his uncle, that they would go back to his father, tell him of their findings (not including the candy store) and set out to get the Avatar the next day. Between everything that had happened, time had flown, the sun would start to set in a little more than an hour. That, and Zuko wanted to ask his father the story behind Zeeva's suicide as soon as he could.

"Zee!" Emi shouted to Zeeva as she was splashing Shaya.

Zeeva looked over her shoulder to see what Emi wanted, when something else caught her eye: a boy up by the shops. He had a black ponytail on top of a bald head, and a scar on his left eye. Zeeva continued to stare at the boy, and took a step back in the water, causing her to fall in.

The girls all looked toward the spot that Zeeva had saw, but the boy was gone. They looked back at Zeeva, who had emerged, and asked her what she saw.

"Nothing," she responded, and splashed Shaya, again. The others ignored it, and continued to play. The truth was, it wasn't "nothing." As she played, rage started to grow with in her, but it wasn't new rage. This rage had been thought to be gone, for good, but at the sight of the boy, it came back.

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**The rage of a thousand suns burns in Zeeva... roar. R&R!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapta 5! YOU have been replaced!**

**Disclaimer: Be free Avatar! For you are not mine. But the rest of you, get back in the box**

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**Chapter 5: I Can Walk and Talk**

The girls got dressed, and headed home. It was almost 5 o'clock, and time for dinner to get started. They walked up by the shops, dropped off Emi, back through the woods, and to the house. The whole way, talking about how much fun they had had. Zeeva kept quiet most of the time, agreeing with the others occasionally.

Katara noticed, but didn't mind. She remembered what happened to her, and thought it was after shock, of what ever it was that made her fall. She was going to ask her about it later anyway, so she let her try to relax a bit now, before she ran off to the spring again.

The house was still empty when they arrived, but that didn't last long. Within the five minutes, everyone was home. Shaya and Kaysa were helping their mother with dinner, Jung was helping Sokka take a fishing hook out of his thumb, and Aang, Katara, and Zeeva had gone for a walk through the woods.

Katara was talking to Aang about the girls' day, but when she came up to the point of Zeeva's fall, she stopped. Zeeva was looking around the woods, more awake than she had been all day. Katara couldn't help think it was because of the incident. Whatever it was that scared her, it was now haunting her. "Zeeva," she asked, "Why did you collapse at the beach today?"

Zeeva stopped walking, and looked at the ground. She didn't seem to be in the mood for eye contact. She clenched her fists, then relaxed, and turned her head to her left.

Katara and Aang looked at her confused, but Katara quickly saw her mistake. "That's ok Zeeva, you don't have to answer. I was just curious, that's all. If you don't want to tell me that's fine…"

"No," Zeeva said, "That's all right, Katara. I should start explaining things to you a bit more." She looked at her audience, and they began to walk again, as Zeeva explained. "You see, when I was younger, I had a friend," she muffled a slight giggle, "Actually, he was a bit more than a friend. He and I were inseparable. When we got together, we were trouble. _He_ was proper, for the most part, while I, well, to put it plainly, my personality hasn't changed _much_ through the years. We were complete opposites, but we had so much in common, which was why we were such good friends.

"Any ways, about two, almost three years ago, he sort of _moved_, and, well, I thought I saw him today. It was such a shock I lost my footing in the water, and fell."

Aang nodded, and looked at the trail. Katara, on the other hand, wanted more. This was the deepest conversation she had had with Zeeva, and she was going to find out as much as she could. But, that conversation was gonna have to wait. Aang wanted advice, and that was more important, after all, with out it, how would he save the world?

The three continued walking through the woods, while Aang asked his questions. Most of the questions were about stance, strength, and things like that, but another questioned intrigued Katara on _her_ mission. "Zeeva, one more question."

Zeeva nodded as a gesture for him to continue. "This isn't about bending, but I was wondering, who was your friend?"

Zeeva froze, and the other two looked back at her. Her eyes were wide open and looking down, again. She seemed to force a smile on her face, and scratched the back of her head. "Umm, well, I don't like to talk about him. But, yeah, umm, his name, it was ah…"

A loud noise interrupted Zeeva, and as a result she sighed with relief. Just one more reason Katara wanted to talk to her.

"Katara!" Aang exclaimed, "I know that noise, it's…"

"This way, Uncle!" A boy's voice shouted. Aang looked around, then up. He grabbed Katara, and they began to climb a tree. Zeeva, slightly confused, watched them climb. She thought about climbing up after them, but she had climbed that tree before, and she knew it couldn't hold all their weight. Besides, she knew there was a group of branches up there that most people couldn't pass through.

She stood her ground, and let the noise reveal itself to her. Off trail trees rustled, and a boy on a rhino made his way through. Zeeva gasped, it was the boy from the beach. 'But, how?' she thought.

He was off the real trail, unless that rhino had her's, Katara's, or Aang's sent and was trailing them. The boy was alone, as far as she could tell. He had been talking to someone, but knowing the luck of the forest, they were probably lost now. He looked down at her, his scared left eye grabbing her attention.

"Where is he?" The boy asked. He was trying to sound threatening, but Zeeva, being Zeeva, saw past it, and looked him in the eye.

"Where's who?" She questioned him, and smirked.

"The Avatar. People saw him come this way, now where is he?" The boy was getting aggravated, Zeeva, mean while, had heard a grunt from up in the tree. Aang had reached the group of branches.

As Zeeva continued her little charade, Aang thought of a way to get through the branches. Aang wasn't like most people; he found a way to pass. Katara was on the other side of the tree, looking down as to keep an eye on Zeeva. She knew the boy. It was Zuko, the fire prince that had been chasing Aang. If Zeeva knew, she would run, but it was too late now. Aang freed his hands and put them together, then pushed down. Using air bending, he had made himself like a cork, and popped right out of the branches. He had forgotten something though: the wind he had made, would ratchet off the ground. It took only the unfamiliar shriek of a girl to remind him. He looked down from the trees to see Zeeva trying to keep her skirt down as she talked to Zuko.

Now redder than red, Zeeva began to curse to Aang below her breath. "I'm gonna kill 'im. As soon as I see him, he's a dead man." Zeeva looked down at the ground, and as she did, Zuko tried to hide his own slight embarrassment, by commanding Zeeva to tell him the location of the Avatar. Zeeva looked back up to him, and told him once more that she didn't know the location of the Avatar.

"Zuko," an old man's voice called from the trees. Zuko turned to the trees, and Zeeva ran towards the spring. She stopped half way, as to take a breath, and Aang and Katara joined her.

Zeeva smiled, and looked towards the little monk. She rubbed his bald head, then dug her knuckles into it. Zeeva didn't embarrass easily, but Aang's stunt did it. She continued to hit him at random times, as she led him and Katara back to the house. Aang was in for hell tomorrow, but she would wait until then to tell him.

Dinner was ready when they returned, and Sokka now had a bandage on his thumb. Kaysa helped him get his bed ready, and after dinner the rest of the kids went to their rooms.

Zeeva stared up at the ceiling. Katara had gotten so close, so close to whatever Zeeva was keeping from her, or at least, that was what she thought. The truth was she had gotten nowhere. The mention of Zeeva's childhood friend wasn't enough to reveal anything about Zeeva, except that at one point she did have a life outside of her sisters and Emi.

Emi had even said that she was the only person besides Kaysa and Shaya that Zeeva had a friendship with, and that even she felt that all three of the girls were hiding something from her. She had only been a friend of theirs for about year or two, when she had moved t the area. Katara had to find out more. At the thought that even Emi was left out in the blue, made her feel that it was almost impossible. Katara was new to her; she couldn't gain Zeeva's trust that easily. If Zeeva and the girls didn't completely trust Emi after two years, Katara had no chance.

"Zeeva," she called from her bed on the floor, "What did Zuko say to you?" She nearly had a heart attack when Zeeva shot up from her bed as fast as she did.

She turned to Katara and asked, "_That_ was _Zuko_?"

Katara, now scared out of her mind, nodded, and blinked.

Zeeva lay back down, and looked up to the ceiling.

After that reaction, Katara _didn't_ want to know. Zeeva was scary at times, and this was one of them.

"Zuko," Zeeva repeated, "Prince Zuko."

Katara watched, no questions asked, as Zeeva fell asleep.

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**Panty shot for Zuko! Lol, but hey, Zeeva is starting to put the peices together. R&R!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Another one! **

**Disclaimer: I lack the proper paperwork to claim Avatar as my own, but I have all the proof I need to say that the Choso family is mine**

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**Chapter 6: Sometimes**

Katara had slowly fallen to sleep after Zeeva. Zeeva was just so… strange.

The next morning Zeeva had woken up before everyone else.

Katara had a feeling she had gone to the spring, but when everyone else had woken up, she wasn't so sure. No one was curious about where she had gone. Even when her sisters had an idea of where she was, they still worried, and her parents didn't even know of the spring. If anyone, she thought her parents would be a little worried.

Katara asked where Zeeva was at breakfast, and after a split second of silence, they said that she had gone for a walk. This still seemed odd to Katara, but she was the only one. The boys just dug into the food Mrs. Choso had laid out on the table, and the family tried to ignore the factor.

After breakfast, Katara went with the boys for a walk in the woods. Katara and Aang told Sokka about the incident with Zuko the day before. Sokka, being Sokka, thought that they should leave while they where still hidden from Zuko, and the rest of the Fire Nation.

Katara was stuck in the middle, because Aang didn't want to leave quite yet. He had gotten nowhere with earth bending, and the summer was ending fast. She agreed with both Aang and Sokka, but she had her own reasons for wanting to stay: Zeeva.

The three headed back to the house. There had been no sign of Zuko, or Zeeva, and the boys wanted to keep it that way. Zuko would be trouble, and after Aang's mishap the day before, neither of them wanted to be with Zeeva.

Zuko walked down the halls to his old room. It had been emptied the day he had left; the only thing that did remain was a vacant bed.

It was day two. He now had only three days to capture the Avatar, but ever since his father had given him the news of his old friend, it had been hard to concentrate.

He wasn't staying in his room, he was staying on the ship, but he wanted to come see what had become of his room. Just as he had thought, it was deserted. He still continued to look around, including under his large bed. Beneath it he had found and old portrait. It was small, so the maids who cleaned it easily missed it. He picked it up and looked at its occupants.

It was a portrait of him and his friend when they were young, younger than when he had left. A girl, his friend Zeeva, was hanging on his neck, smiling. He was smiling back at her, his eye unburned. She wore a black dress that was too big; an older maid had given it to her. He remembered how when she had gone to meet him, the sleeves were half a foot too long for her small hands. Her hair was in pigtails that barley came off her head. He also remembered how without the pigtails, she looked like a boy because of her short hair.

Forcing a laugh at the picture, and hid it in his armor. He left the room, and went towards the ship looking for his uncle. Iroh had been playing a game of Pai Sho when Zuko came to see him. They left to go to Iroh's tearoom, and Zuko showed him the portrait he had found.

Iroh smiled at the memory of the girl, and turned over the portrait to see the back. His smile grew as he viewed what was written. It was the lyrics to a song called "Silent Love." He showed it to his nephew, and reminded him of the song. Iroh and the girl used to sing it at their music nights. Fire Lord Oazi wasn't a fan of these, but Zuko and Zeeva enjoyed attending them. Iroh had asked them every time they came if they would like to sing, Zuko always said no, but Iroh talked Zeeva into singing a song with him after he overheard her singing while she did her chores.

The two reminisced about the girl, until a servant intruded on them to ask for Prince Zuko. Zuko left his uncle to join the servant.

He was an older man, about the age of his uncle, but he was thinner than Iroh, with shorter hair, but when he spoke they sounded very much alike. "Prince Zuko," He said, "I was told of the 'misfortune' of Miss Zeeva."

Zuko was confused. The man was old, but only the women servants knew of his and Zeeva's friendship. No one else would care. The man didn't look familiar either. Zuko didn't see what was going on, until the man turned to look behind him, revealing a small tattoo on the left side of his head, just over his ear. "Soujiro," Zuko said under his breath. The man turned towards the mention of his name. "So you do remember me? Very good."

Now he remembered. There was another servant that new of their friendship, that man, Soujiro. He was the chef in the kitchen. Zuko didn't remember him, because Soujiro didn't approve of their friendship. It wasn't because he didn't like Zeeva. On the contrary, he was like a father to Zeeva. He didn't approve of the relationship between the two, because he disapproved of the Fire Lord's tactics. He knew that if Zeeva became too much of an annoyance to Ozai, he would kill her.

Soujiro made sure no one was near them and explained that there was a grave for Zeeva outside the Fire Nation, in the woods, and how he would go their everyday to put down flowers. He told Zuko that if he wanted to give his last words to her, that he should visit it.

Zuko said he would, and thanked Soujiro. Soujiro didn't like the idea of the two being together, but he like both of the children. They would go see him on his breaks, and occasionally help him in the kitchen, but they tried to avoid him when they were together, because he would always tell them that them being together was a bad idea.

Soujiro left, and Zuko told his uncle of the grave. They agreed to go visit it that night, and that it was time to go searching for the Avatar once again. They decided to try in the woods again, seeing as it was where Zuko had encountered a girl the night before, and after thinking it over, he recognized her as one of the girls from the back in the town. She was the closest clue they had.

On the way back to the house, a giant bug on a stump distracted Aang and Sokka. Katara didn't have the heart to tell them it was dead. She sat down on a rock, and began to look at flowers. She picked one flower that was pink and pale yellow with a curly stem. She smelled its sweet fragrance, while trying to ignore the boys. She told them it was time to go, when she heard a yelp from their direction. Standing on a now squished bug, was Zeeva.

Aang and Sokka looked up nervously at their sudden intruder. They held on to each other as she lowered her face to their level. "Boo," she said, making the boys scurry for the protection of Katara. The girls shook their heads in pity.

"Where were you this morning, Zeeva?" Katara asked.

Zeeva caught eye of the flower in Katara's hand. "The same as you," she said, "Picking some flowers." She showed Katara a bouquet of flowers that resembled the one Katara found; only they were yellow and red. She hopped down from the stump, and put Katara's flower in the middle of the bouquet.

They rounded up, and went back to the house, receiving a welcoming from the family. It was getting to be an hour or so before dinner, and the girls gathered, once again, in Zeeva and Katara's room. They talked about what had happened around the house. Apparently, the girl's father, Jung, was now cut off from using the oven. They didn't ask for too many details, but from what they got, Mr. Choso had tried to help with dinner, and succeeded, but it wasn't edible afterwards. That didn't matter though, Sokka was hungry, and he'd eat it.

Katara left for a moment to answer a call of pain from Sokka. He had tried to eat what he had thought to be a large black bird berry, but it was too crunchy. That, however, didn't stop him from finishing it. When she returned, before she opened the door, she heard the girls whispering.

"So what happened?" She heard Kaysa ask.

"Same old, same old," Zeeva replied with a bored tone, "All I did was practice."

"But you were late," Shaya added, "And I know that you only met Katara a few minutes before you got back. What else did you do?"

Katara put her ear to the door to listen, 'Practice?'

Inside the room, Zeeva stood up from her spot on the floor, walked over to Shaya, and smacked her on the head. "All I did was practice and get those flowers. I was a little late, so what?" She walked back over to her spot while she listened to Shaya as she rubbed her head.

"You know exactly 'what.' Mom was getting worried."

Zeeva was getting nervous. She pulled out the medallion that hung around her neck, and began to run it up and down the chain. She knew what Shaya wanted to hear, but she didn't want to tell, and she didn't have to.

Katara had realized that Zeeva wasn't going to tell her sisters, and they weren't going to go back to the conversation about Zeeva's practicing. She opened the door, and sat down next to Zeeva.

The medallion grabbed her attention, and she asked Zeeva about it. "This," She said as she looked down at the medallion. Katara nodded, "May I see it?"

Zeeva took it off, and handed it to her. Katara looked at the details of the medallion; the imprints of flowers and the red jewel in the middle. The craftsmanship was remarkable; the only people that could afford something like that were royalty. She looked at it more, and asked Zeeva, "Where did you get it?"

Zeeva looked down at Katara and replied, "Remember that old friend I told you about?"

Katara nodded.

"He gave it to me for my birthday some years back."

Katara handed the necklace back to Zeeva, and Zeeva put it back on. "Do you miss him?" She asked. Zeeva looked at the medallion, then back at Katara, "Sometimes."

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**"Sometimes" Naw, too bad they aren't usually happy thoughts. R&R!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Almost done with the reposts.**

**Disclamer: I DO NOT OWN AVATAR! ...not even on dvd :( but the Choso family is mine**

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**Chapter 7: You're Afraid**

'Sometimes,' the word echoed in Zeeva's head as she, too, studied the medallion. 'What am I thinking?' Her thoughts were interrupted by her mother's call for dinner.

The girl's stood up from the wood floor, and made their way to the table. The boys, just as eager to eat as ever, took no hesitation of diving into everything. Zeeva normally joined them, but didn't seem to eat much at all.

"Are you feeling all right, Zeeva?" her mother asked.

Zeeva looked up from her plate, to all the eyes now looking at her. She looked around, then at the bouquet of flowers in the middle of the table. They were the flowers she had brought home. "I guess I'm just not that hungry today. I'm going to go lie down," said, and she got up to go back to her room.

Mrs. Choso looked at her other two daughters, and they knew what she wanted. The girls got up from dinner, and followed their sister into her room.

Zeeva was changing into her sleepwear: a large green shirt, and brown pants, when the girls came in. Zeeva looked towards them, and then picked up her hairbrush. "I'm fine," she told them with her back turned. She was looking out the window at the clear, starry sky.

Shaya stepped forward and stood with Zeeva. "We went into town today," she said, "we found a poster, announcing a Fire Nation ball."

Zeeva looked at her sister with a glare of annoyance. "So?" She said.

"So," Kaysa stepped in, "the ball is tomorrow night."

"So- oh, wait!" She spun around from the window, and looked fearfully at the girls, "No! No! You two are insane!"

"It was mom's idea, actually," Shaya explained.

"Insane, nuts, how many other ways can I say it?" She turned to look out the window again, "What's the occasion anyway?"

Shaya reached into the pocket of her green dress, and took out a poster stating the coming of the ball, and handed it to Zeeva.

With a smirk on her face, she said to herself as she read. "That bastard." She shook her head, and looked back at the other girls. "I'm not going," she told them again, and threw the poster at them.

Kaysa picked up the poster from the floor, and ran to her sister's side, "Why not, Zeeva? You need to." She stepped back at the glare of irritation from Zeeva.

Shaya put her hand on her shoulder, then looked at Zeeva's glare head on. "No one said that you were going alone," she told her.

Zeeva's eyes widened and she stood up to her older sister. "NO WAY! I'm not going, and you aren't going either!"

"And why not?" She said back calmly, crossing her arms.

"We're not going."

"You're afraid."

"I'm not afraid!"

Shaya stared with a smirk; "You don't want to see him?"

Zeeva looked Shaya in the eye, and sighed in defeat. "I already have, I think."

Both girls' eyes grew in bewilderment. "What, when?" Kaysa asked.

"Yesterday. He was looking for Aang."

"Wha- why didn't you…"

"It doesn't matter! We're not going, and that's final. Besides, any moron could tell you that there is some ulterior motive for this."

"It says there that the ball is being held to find a bride for the prince," Kaysa said pointing to the poster in Shaya's hands. Zeeva shook her head, and looked back out the window. "That man is planing something."

The other girls listened in.

"He hates his son with a passion. The last thing he would do is find him a bride. Heh," she let out a laugh, "He probably would choose some poor girl that was sent there by her family, to marry into money, and make her a sex slave or… some… thing…" She trailed off, and looked back at her sisters, who were shocked.

"He wouldn't do that, would he?" Shaya asked.

Zeeva's eyes widened at the thought, and grabbed the poster. "He would," she said in a faint voice as she looked up from the poster.

"That's it! Now we have to go!" Shaya exclaimed grabbing Kaysa by the shoulders and shaking her. She looked at Zeeva, who was looking around at no obvious object. "We'll use some of mom's old gowns, and we'll go tomorrow night," she continued to say franticly.

"No," Zeeva stopped her.

"What?"

Zeeva scratched her head, and looked out a window that was pointed to the woods; the Fire Nation. "I have an idea," she explained.

That night, all the girls slept in Zeeva's room, for the most part. Once again, Zeeva left for the spring. "Oh- hooo," she moaned as she leaned back in the hot water. She was supposed to relax, but after the night's prier events, relaxation seemed far out of reach. She told herself that the boy she saw, the one Katara said was Zuko, wasn't. He couldn't have been. She tried to closed her eyes, and think of something else, anything else. She sighed in relief when another thought entered her mind.

"Zuko? Zukooo? Where is he?" A young Zeeva asked herself. She came up into a deserted hallway. She walked down looking from one wall to the other. The walls were covered in red paint and black symbols of the Fire Nation. On the floor was a long red rug that bent with the turns of the hallway. "Oof!" She said as she tripped over a loose string on her shoe. She went to tie it with frustration when a familiar voice called to her from around the corner. "Zeeva, did you trip, again?"

"Zuko, where were you? I've been looking for you all day!"

A young Zuko laughed as he joined his flustered friend.

Zeeva finished with her shoe, stood up and the friends made their way back down the hall towards the pond. "I bet I'll beat you!" Zeeva shouted as she began to run.

"Yeah, right!" Zuko yelled as he too fastened his pace. They ran down the hallway passing a jolly looking old man.

"Sorry Uncle!"

"Sorry Iroh!" The two yelled as they passed. When they reached outside, they fell to the ground. "I so won," Zeeva said between breaths.

"Nuh-uh," Zuko said in response to her claim.

"You both lost," another voice came from over them.

"Leave us alone, Azula," Zuko said to a girl not much older than he was who looked very much like him.

Azula, his older sister, crossed her arms and told him, and Zeeva, that they had to leave. The two protested, and within time, two other girls joined Azula's side.

"What's the problem, Azula?" A girl dressed in pink asked her.

"My brother and his peasant friend won't leave."

The girl, Ty lee, looked at the children, and smirked.

Zuko knew Ty lee well, and he knew that though she didn't look like much, she was an excellent fighter. He had watched her spar with his sister, and knew the wise choice was to leave before Azula asked Ty lee to make them leave.

"Come on, Zeeva," he said as he pulled her away.

Unlike Zuko, who wanted to avoid confrontation with his sister, Zeeva had a much stronger will to beat Azula. She wasn't going to walk away from the girls without a fight. She pulled her hand away from Zuko, and charged at Azula.

"Zeeva, no!" Zuko yelled as he tried to pull her off his older sister. Zeeva had pinned Azula to the ground and she raised her fist.

As it started to come down, an older hand grabbed her wrist. She looked up to see Iroh holding her back. Zeeva glared at Azula, then got off of her and walked away with Iroh and Zuko.

"Weakling," Azula shouted at her, as her friends helped her off the ground. Zeeva looked back at her, but when she began to try to break away from Iroh to fight Azula, again, Zuko grabbed her other hand, and led her towards the garden.

Iroh sat the girl down on a stone bench, and Zuko sat beside her. Iroh explained to Zeeva, that she shouldn't fight with Azula.

Zeeva had heard this story many times before, about how if she hurt Azula, Zuko's father, the Fire Lord, would kick her out of the palace where she lived. Zeeva knew, but she didn't agree. The Fire Lord wouldn't dismiss her from her housing; he would kill her, without hesitation.

When he was finished talking to Zeeva, Iroh left the children in the garden. Zeeva pouted, but listened when Zuko started talking to her.

"He's right Zeeva. My father already doesn't like you. It won't take much to convince him to get rid of you."

"I know," she told him. She looked up towards the sky over head and told him, "I don't want to leave, but there are times when Azula just gets so annoying! Eh…"

She stopped when she felt Zuko fixing a ribbon on one of her messy black pigtails. She looked down while he talked to her some more.

"I know she can be annoying, but you'll have to try to get along with her, like I do."

Zeeva let out a slight laugh. Zuko glared at her, but when their glances met, all they could do was smile.

Zeeva eyes shot open. The young kids were gone, and now she was staring wide-eyed in the woods. At first she thought it was her sisters again, but she thought other wise when a boy stepped out from the bushes. Eyes still open, she dunked under the water. It didn't take much for her to realize her mistake. She shot back up and yelled, "No!"

The boy turned to look at the reason for the sudden outburst. He had his little bit of raven black hair pulled back in a low ponytail and a scar on his left eye. She held her arms over her bare upper body, and lowered back under the water so only her neck and beet red face was visible. She saw the boy turn away just as fast as he had turned to look, and she saw him turn just as red. His shirt was off; it was obvious he was undressing to enjoy the spring as well.

"I'm sorry," she said. While he was still turned, she reached to grab her dress off the rock where she had placed them. She got out of the spring, and got dress, checking to make sure he wasn't watching. When she was finished putting on her clothes, she turned to him, still embarrassed, and said, "I didn't know anyone else knew about this place. I thought only an old friend and I did."

"I thought the same," he told her.

'He couldn't be,' Zeeva kept telling herself. She realized the boy was the same she had encountered with Katara and Aang, but it wasn't possible, was it? She shook her head, and looked back at him. He turned towards her. 'It's not him,' she said. She looked down. "I'm sorry," she said once more, and left. She looked back occasionally. 'It wasn't him. The Zuko I knew wouldn't have looked so grim, so dark. The Zuko I knew would have smiled.'

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**Oooooh the tension! Smile Zuko, that's your girl right there! Lol R&R!**


	8. Chapter 8

**HAH! Last replaced chapter. Eveything after this will be NEW NEW NEW! It's like having to watch all the repeats before the new season comes out.**

**Disclaimer: Avatar: not mine, Choso family: mine**

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**Chapter 8: Dance the Dance **

Zuko watched the girl quickly leave the spring and stared at her point of exit once she was out of sight. Once his wandering mind had come back, he finished undressing and got into the spring. He had been at Zeeva's grave before he realized he was close to the spring he and his old friend had used to play at. When they were younger, they'd swim in it like a small pool. Now older and bigger, it was a place to try to relax.

He tried to think about his plan to catch the Avatar, but it wasn't easy. His mind continued to drift to Zeeva's grave. The grave was nothing more than a stone with her name and years of life, though he noticed that the year of death was hard to make out. It seemed almost scraped off as if whoever made the grave didn't want people to know when she died.

He again tried to ignore it, and focus. He eventually gave up. It seemed that the Avatar was going to be the last thing on his mind for a bit. The thought of Zeeva's grave was now gone and replaced with the thought of the ball being held tomorrow night. His father seemed intrigued in finding him a bride-to-be for when he returned with the Avatar. It was odd. The Fire Lord had not seen him on almost two years, and yet he was actually trusting that he would find the Avatar.

It was late, and Zuko was getting tired. He finally got out of the spring, dressed, and started back toward his ship.

Zeeva crawled through the window of her bedroom where she found the girls fast asleep. She crept around the bodies laid about her floor and snuck into her bed. Her gaze glanced about the room, and fell upon Katara. Though Zeeva knew it was wrong to think so, she couldn't help but want Katara and the others to leave. Up until their arrival, she had figured everything out. She had her sisters, her parents, and everything was finally simple.

Now she continued to remember memories that she had tried so hard to forget. This Zuko, he can't be the Zuko she used to know, but now she's seen him 3 times and she can't help but think Angi is trying to tell her something. She rolled over in her bed to stare at the wall in hopes the plainness would simplify her thinking. It worked for a little bit, and she was asleep.

"Ow. Ow. OW! Ow," Zeeva sat in a chair in the middle of her room while Shaya held a handful of her hair in one and a brush in the other. "I haven't even touched you yet," Shaya nagged her sister.

"I know," Zeeva said, "I'm practicing."

Shaya shook her head and looked to Kaysa, who was lying out kimonos and dresses across the beds.

Zeeva's eyes glanced over to see what the clothes looked like. They were green, all green, except for one gold gown. "Gee, I wonder what Mom's favorite color is," Zeeva said in a sarcastic tone.

Shaya and Kaysa looked to each other and said, "Pink," in unison.

Zeeva glared at them as they quickly went back to what they were doing. "I like that gold one," she told them.

Kaysa picked up the dress and looked at it. It was a top and skirt with gold coloring of different shades. The top had a lovely embroidered pattern on the hems of the sleeves and the collar was a wide shouldered cut.

"It matches your eyes," Shaya said as she continued to brush Zeeva's long, wavy raven hair.

"I like it, too," Kaysa added, "It's kind of shiny."

Shaya and Zeeva stared at their sister in response to her comment before they shook their heads and Shaya said, "I like that green one."

"They are _all _green," Zeeva said.

"I like the green one without the sleeves and the gold leaves along the top." She tied Zeeva's hair up to keep Zeeva from messing it up, again, and held the dress up to her.

Zeeva leaned over to Kaysa to make a comment about Shaya needing breasts to be able to wear that particular dress. Kaysa giggled, but stopped suddenly when Shaya threw the girls a menacing stare.

Kaysa quickly changed the subject by picking up a kimono styled dress covered in embroidery of golden trees and cherry blossom petals. The obi was gold with cherry blossoms scattered about it. "This is pretty," she said.

Shaya and Zeeva giggled. Kaysa always loved kimonos. She felt they made her more formal than if she were to just wear a dress. The girls got dressed and Shaya started on Zeeva's hair, again.

Katara and the rest of the Aang gang sat in the living room after a day of practicing. Aang had gotten slightly better. He had found out how to make a snow man out of rocks, with a little bit of air bending.

Katara knew the girls were going to some sort of party, and understood why she couldn't go with them, but it didn't stop her from wanting to. A night of dressing up and having fun like a normal girl sounded fantastic. However, she was stuck as the judge for when Aang and her brother got into another belching contest after dinner. She always wondered when Sokka would just give up all together, after all, Aang always won.

She looked to the door to hear the girls laughing as Zeeva made fun of Shaya every time her dress started to fall off. Sighing again, she began to think about how long they would be at the Choso home before they could move on. As her glance went to Aang trying to move pebbles on the table, she realized it would be a very long time.

"Fixed it!" Shaya announced proudly as she examined her handy work on the dress. She had used about thirty pins to do so, but the dress was staying up. That was the last of things to do before leaving to the ball. All of them had their hair up in some way or another, just as every Fire Nation citizen did, and wore a little bit of make up. Zeeva had tried to avoid it, but Shaya had gotten strong enough to hold her down long enough for Kaysa to add some eye shadow and other make up "essentials" as Shaya put it.

Together they left the room, let their mother complement their looks, and headed toward the palace. They felt bad about leaving Katara, but it was for the best. Zuko, or who everyone said was Zuko, would have recognized her easily.

The palace was beautifully decorated with reds, golds, banners, portraits and guests dressed in expensive, gorgeous clothes. The floor was full of dancers, and at the front of the ball room sat The Fire Lord and Princess Azula.

Zeeva glared at Azula from the back of the room, fighting the urge to give her the mouth full of fist that she deserved after all of those years of torment.

Shaya took her arm and shushed her as the music and dancing stopped. The Fire Lord stood and motioned toward the top of a stair case announcing the arrival of Prince Zuko.

Zeeva forced herself to scowl at him, but deep down she was nervous, she was terrified, she was distracted. Every step he took down the grand stair case in his formal robes made her breathing faster and shallower. He looked so much older than the last time she had seen him. He walked taller, stronger, more determined, and he was so handsome. She hid her reddening face from her sisters and forced her mind off of that final thought.

The music started again, and Shaya and Kaysa were swept away by two attractive Fire Nation boys. Zeeva waved them off as she looked around the dance floor for any girls that struck her as "out-of-place." A group of three girls caught her eye and she started toward them. They were dressed in gowns that looked old and out of style, no Fire Nation noble would ever wear such "rags" as she thought of how Azula belittled peasants. She was right.

The girls were cousins from a nearby Fire Nation town, and their family was so close to going under, they could taste the dirt. Zeeva continued to talk to them about the prince and what they thought of him, only to hear that they knew almost nothing about him. Oazi had done a good job of hiding Zuko from the world, so when he was off again and the girl was alone, she was good for the taking.

Zuko looked over the ballroom from his seat and was not amused. Azula sat beside him, and she was enjoying the sight of a miserable Zuko. The whole day she had been making comments, none of which had bothered Zuko, until she mentioned how Zeeva would have been an awful choice for a bride. She actually was shocked how aggressively Zuko had responded to the insult.

Oazi sat on a higher chair behind the siblings, and was nudging Zuko to look at specific girls, but Zuko felt no interest. He didn't plan on interacting with any of the guests, until the Fire Lord announced the next song as a chance to dance with the prince.

Azula pushed her little brother from his seat and on to the dance floor, where many noble girls and some poorer girls fought for a dance.

Eventually the music began, and he began dancing with a girl, who was pulled away and replaced with another. It continued that way until the song ended, and Zuko sighed with relief. He had danced with almost every girl present, in about five minutes. He looked around the room to mentally check off all of the psychotic girls that had danced with him.

A group of girls in poor clothes, a few Earth Kingdom girls, and very few Fire Nation girls were on his list of ones he had not shared a dance with. He walked through the crowd to dance with the few, before his father found another chance to make him dance with them all at once.

An Earth Nation girl in a kimono was close and he asked if she would like a dance. Luckily, she said, "No," and continued talking to another boy. He chose to approach the group of girls dressed in old looking gowns, and one of them agreed to a dance. As they danced across the floor, the girl tripped over his feet multiple times, and kept apologizing. He had finally established that it was going to be a very long night.

Zeeva left the group of girls and bumped into Kaysa, who was speaking with a Fire Nation boy with short brown hair that just made it into the ceremonial bun on his head. His brown eyes were glancing up and down her little sister, so she felt the need to intervene. "How is it, Kaysa?" She interrupted the boy's comment on Kaysa's kimono.

"Nice, actually. Prince Zuko just asked me to dance, but I said 'no." Kaysa informed her.

Zeeva nodded, and turned to see a boy gazing down at her. His messy hair and the lipstick smeared on his cheek showed signs of him recently being in a closet with a girl. He took her hand without a word and dragged her onto the dance floor.

"Go on! Have fun!" Kaysa called to Zeeva as she was brought deeper into the sea of people on the floor. The boy tried to show off the "fantastic" dance moves, that he lacked, and ended up only pulling and pushing her to get her to spin or dip.

The girl's dancing was not improving, and Zuko had stopped trying to teach her. He twirled her again, and his eyes wandered on to the other people on the dance floor. The crowd stole his attention from the girl as she tripped again, and bumped into another couple. Making haste to look like a prince and help her, his eyes caught a glimpse of another girl who was having trouble dancing. Her partner wasn't helping at all either. He laughed and went to help the girl off the floor, but another young man had beaten him to it.

He shrugged and saw that the other boy's dance partner had fallen to the floor as well. He reached out his hand to help her, and she took it as she tried to push the hair out of her face. Off the ground, she managed to fix her hair and thank him, but she was too awe struck to say a word. The music stopped and another song started.

Zuko couldn't break the stare he had on her gold eyes. They were so bright, and yet he could tell she was nervous. Her black hair was a wavy mess, probably from dancing with her partner, and her lips were a dangerously bright shade of red. He gestured for her hand, and almost forcibly, she took it. Her small pale hand rested on his shoulder as they moved across the floor.

He took a step, and she mirrored it exactly. As the dance continued, he noticed that they were dancing as if they had practiced. Everything he did, she knew exactly how to respond, and he would do the same for her. He almost felt the need to make the dance harder. He added an extra step, and so did she. Their eyes met again and this time Zuko didn't see nervousness, he saw a challenge.

She pushed off of him, and he spun her three times, before throwing her under his arm to the other side. She grabbed her skirt and pulled him to her. She smirked before going under again and dipping on the other side. Her leg high in the air as he brought her down as close to the floor as he could with out her head touching the ground.

The music sped up and people cleared the floor to make room for the prince and the mystery girl. Oazi smirked on the scene from his chair and watched the girl.

Zuko pulled her back up to his chest with one hand and they stepped symmetrically across the floor. They stopped and Zuko held her hand as he walked around her. A smirk shined across her face before she split her legs and went to the floor.

Zuko pulled her back up and while her feet were still in the air, he took her hand and waist as he spun them both until the song ended.

His chest pounding with adrenaline, he looked to the girl to see her completely out of breath. He put her back on the floor, but didn't let go of her hand. When the applause of the crowd finished and the next song called them all back to the floor, he turned to the girl.

She was so out of breath she couldn't run away from him. She continued to mentally kick herself for loving a good dance. She couldn't talk to him, especially right now. She repeatedly told herself she hated him, he was a back stabber, he was the thing she forced herself to forget years ago. But his eyes…

They were the same as they were back then. They were happy, full of life and kindness, she couldn't run, even if she wasn't tired, she just couldn't. He had her trapped, and he didn't even know it.

His hand was so warm, and her heart was beating so fast, and not because of the dance. She was nervous and scared, not because she felt threatened, but because she felt she would embarrass herself in front of him, right in front of him. She was only inches from him. Her hand was still in his, and his eyes were still holding her.

"Who are you?" He asked. "You look so familiar."

Zeeva's face grew so hot. She knew he was staring at her. "Umm…" She didn't know what to say. He saw her with the Avatar, but she couldn't tell him that. He would use her to get to Aang. He saw her at the spring, but the last thing she wanted to remind him of was her yelling at him while she was trying to cover herself up. That was a lie. That last thing she wanted him to know was who she really was. "I umm…"

"Zeeva, we've got to go," Shaya yelled for her sister.

Zeeva's face got even redder, but she tried to force herself to look up to Zuko. He knew her name, but that didn't necessarily mean he knew who she was.

"Zeeva?"

She looked up slowly to the sound of her name. His eyes were wide with confusion.

"I-I have to go," she said as she finally broke free and ran to Shaya and Kaysa, as to go through with their plan.

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**Run, Zeeva, RUN! Ok, so this is the last post, but I am working on chapter 9 and I hope it'll get up soon. **

**R&R you guys!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Check that out! An update and edited chapters, it's like Christmas! A very merry un-birthday to you!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Avatar verse... but I soooo wish I did! For now I will settle with the OC's that I put in it.**

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**Chapter 9: Fire Lillies**

"That was close," she muttered as she joined Shaya and Kaysa by the door.

"That wasn't him, was it?" Shaya realized her mistake in calling her sister's name.

Kaysa nodded to Shaya when Zeeva just looked to the floor. It was him. It was obvious now and Zeeva couldn't deny it anymore. It was on music nights with General Iroh that she and Zuko would dance and she would sing while he unwillingly played the Sungi horn. The fantasy was over. Zuko was here.

Zeeva shook her head and looked to her sisters, who were waiting for their commands. "We need to get these girls out of here, so here's the plan-"

"There's a fire!" Kaysa tried to guess the plan.

Zeeva dully stared at Kaysa before saying, "Right, we'll start a fire, in a room full of fire benders. That would get the girls out."

Kaysa bowed her head as she listened to the real plan.

"We act like there is an Earth Kingdom ambush stowed away in the palace. When everyone is panicked, we'll direct them out. Without a room of girls, it's hard to pick one. I'll set the diversion, and you two wait to help get everyone out."

The girls nodded and headed out. It was a simple plan. It couldn't go wrong. Zeeva took a breath before pushing through people to tell the Fire Lord what she had heard when she had gotten lost looking for a place to freshen up.

"Move, please! I need to get by! Let me pass, please, it's urgent! I have to warn the Fire Lord!" After creating her scene across the ballroom, she took the extra steps to stand above the crowd, but still lower than Ozai on his throne. "My Lord, Earth Kingdom soldiers, I heard some in the halls. They're going to attack!"

Everyone in the room started to panic as they headed in multiple directions. As they screamed, Zeeva waited at the Fire Lord's feet for him to respond to the chaos. She fought much harder to stay in her pathetic place on the steps then she did to smirk at the completion of the first step of her plan.

Fire Lord Ozai stood from his seat and raised his hand as he loudly ordered over the crowd. He commanded men to search the halls for the intruders, and told the guests to stay calm. He looked over the large group of people, mostly girls, who were not dressed for the occasion to fight. His eyes fell on Zeeva, and she avoided all eye contact. A smirk crossed his face, and he ordered the guests to evacuate the building.

Zeeva looked to the floor and smiled, but she gasped when Ozai grabbed her arm and pulled her off the floor. "I saw you on the dance floor," his words hissed with lust, "I think you will be perfect."

Complete fear over took her heart as his words dug deeper into her mind. On a brighter side, that meant all of the other girls were free and they should have no worries, but Zeeva fought the instinct to fight the cruel man's hand and run. She couldn't, or her cover would be blown. She did everything from literally biting her tongue, to thinking only positive thoughts to avoid the memories of the whip that normally resting in his other hand when he had a grip on her arm.

"Father," Zuko called from on the dance floor, "Everyone one is out, you should join…" His eyes caught Zeeva's and he looked to his father, "What are you doing?" He asked his father.

"This is your new bride, Son," Ozai pulled Zeeva to his side, and pushed her toward him.

Zuko caught her and looked to his father. He was confused, but Zeeva was happy to be out of the Fire Lord's grasp, for now. As the Fire Lord walked down the corridor to see what his men found, Zuko's eyes darted from his father's back, and onto the girl who had broken in his arms.

Zeeva couldn't fight it anymore and was crying on his chest. The painful memories were all back, and she wasn't the strong young woman she had tried so hard to be. She was the pathetic, sad excuse of an existence that always ended up crying to Zuko. Her shaking hand clutched onto the medallion he had given her years ago, and her other hand tightened the grip on his robe.

Zuko pulled her closer as they were left alone in the abandoned ball room. He was in so much shock from the evening he didn't know what to do. He looked down at her and questions filled his head.

Zeeva? But she couldn't be the same girl from his childhood. She was dead. Or was she? Zuko was surprised to hear that she had killed herself. It didn't seem like something Zeeva would do. He combed her hair behind her ear with his fingers. It was so soft, and her skin was so warm and smooth. He remembered the freckles that tinged young Zeeva's face, and thought about the lack of any blemish on the new Zeeva. If this was her, Zeeva had grown to be a beautiful young woman. His thoughts were interrupted by the mutter from the girl in his arms.

"Thank you," she muttered into his chest as her tears stopped.

"Don't thank me yet," Zuko straightened her up and looked in her tear stung eyes, "I have some questions for you."

Zeeva flinched at the mention of being interrogated. "You know who I am?" He must have finally recognized her from the encounter with Aang.

"I think so," Zuko furrowed his brow, "Maybe, I'm not really sure."

Trying to hide her face in shame for her failure, she tried to compose herself.

"I thought you were dead."

Not expecting his baffled confession, she looked at him wearing a look of uncertainty herself. "What?"

"They said you were dead," Zuko realized what he was saying, "Well, maybe not. I mean maybe you just look like her and happen to have the same name, but I thought… I visited the grave-"

Zeeva accidently let a giggle slip from her painted lips, "I don't think we are on the same page."

Zuko was caught off guard by her laugh and blushed as he explained, "I was told that my friend, Zeeva, had killed herself, but you remind me so much of her."

A mixed look of stupor and anger came over Zeeva's face as he told her the story.

"I even visited her grave yesterday, so I don't know why-"

"That bastard," Zeeva's lady like façade was broken by her foul language. "He lied," a chuckle of insanity and disbelief puzzled Zuko, "Course I don't know why I would ever expect anything less of that-"

"What are you talking about?" Zuko was more shocked that now she sounded like Zeeva.

"You're father," she shook her head, "He lied to me, us." She met his gaze and elucidated, "He told me you gave the orders to have me killed."

Putting the pieces together, Zuko just stared as everything hit him, that the girl was Zeeva, there was no mistaking it. There was no easy read death date because she wasn't dead. Looking into her older golden eyes, he couldn't stop himself from pulling her into an embrace.

She melted. That was the hug of Prince Zuko, the hold of her best friend. Nuzzling her face into his neck like she did when they were young, more tears escaped her and she held him to her. He cradled her head and she listened as the final mummers of guests disappeared.

"What happened to you?" Zuko asked, not daring to let her go.

"After you left, your father called me into his hall and told me that you had ordered my death, because if you were to return you didn't want an influence like me." She tightened the grip on the back of his robes, "S- Soujiro said he would do it." Pointing to a scare that had been covered with makeup she told him further, "Ozai gave me this is a final good-bye."

"But you're alive," Zuko looked at the faint scare under the cover-up, "how?"

"Soujiro wouldn't kill me. He made me a grave and told me to run. I started running when I ran into my new family. They adopted me and I've been hiding there ever since."

Zuko pulled her close again, "He told me you killed yourself, and I couldn't think of any reason why. Soujiro told me about your grave, so Uncle and I left some flowers by it last night."

"Fire Lilies," she said shaking her head, "I should have known. Soujiro leaves me Dragon-dills, but you would remember my favorite."

Not being able to hold back anymore, Zuko placed a kiss on her forehead. "I've missed you," he hugged her again, refusing to let her go.

"I missed you, too."

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**You killed Zeeva!**

**You Bastard!**

**Ozai had a few tricks up his sleeves, but will they all come crashing down now that Zuko and Zeeva know the truth? R&R!**

**BTW Chpater 10 will be up soon, I promise!**


	10. Chapter 10

**All typed up and ready for posting. The last few chapters are short, but the story is over. Keep an eye out for chapters 11 and 12.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar... such a pity, yay for fanfiction!**

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**Chapter 10: He Has Her**

The loud noise of Shaya and Kaysa returning distracted everyone from what they were doing. Katara and Sokka looked up from his injured hand to see them out of breath and sticks in their hair.

"What happened to you two?" Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"Girls?" Mr. and Mrs. Choso joined the gang in the living room, "Girls what happened?" Mrs. Choso looked over her daughters before asking, "Where's Zeeva?"

"He got her!" Kaysa yelled, obviously scared.

"The plan failed," Shaya stepped in, "Ozai got her!"

"Ozai?" everyone stood up and questioned what had happened.

The girls explained their mission and how Ozai had taken Zeeva before she could escape with them. "When we went to get her," Kaysa added, "She was with Zuko."

"That little punk," Jung started for the door.

"Daddy, wait!" Shaya tried to stop him.

"Jung, what are you going to do?" His wife kept a level head, "You're just going to barge in there and demand our daughter back?"

"What do you suggest, Meili?" He kept his hand on the door ready to get his little girl.

"I suggest taking a breather," she looked back to her other two daughters, "You two go get cleaned up and rest. You won't be any help to us in that state."

The girls nodded and went to their room.

"Mrs. Choso," Katara called her attention to her, "We know Zuko. He's been after Aang since before the summer. He isn't a safe person to leave her with."

"I know, oh you have no idea how much I know," Mrs. Choso sat down and ran a hand through her long brown locks. "We need to get her out of there, but how?"

"Give him me," Aang stepped forward.

"No, Aang," Jung put his hand on the brave boy's shoulder. "We'll find another way.

"What other choice do you have? I've escaped from Zuko before. You can trade her for me."

"It isn't that simple," Shaya and Kaysa came from the room.

"The point of that ball was for Zuko to have a bride so when he returned from catching you, he would be ready to marry," Shaya pointed out, "A trade wouldn't work."

"But Aang does have an idea there," Kaysa smiled. "If Zuko did bring the Avatar to his father, then he wouldn't be banished anymore."

"What are you talking about?" Sokka looked to the girl.

"Zuko is a banished prince," Shaya explained, "He's after the Avatar because that's the only way he can return to the throne."

"I didn't know that," Katara realized, "How did you?"

"Because Zeeva told us," Mrs. Choso stood up again. "She's adopted, which is rather obvious in comparison to us, but we tell people that her genetics where from another part of the family. She ran away from the Fire Nation after Zuko was banished because he ordered her to be killed. A servant helped her escape, and we took her in when we found her in the woods."

"He was her old friend," Katara concluded.

"Right," Jung confirmed, "And now that back stabbing brat has my daughter." He went back for the door.

"Jung," his wife stopped him again, "We'll get her back."

"I need to get out of here, Zuko," Zeeva sat in a ball on his bed in the ship dressed in his sleepwear that wore too big on her frame. "I was there with my sisters, they have already told my parents by now, I'm sure."

"I know," Zuko sat on the floor, leaning against the bed. "It's odd though, hearing you talk about a family like that."

"I know," she smiled, "I'm still getting used to it a way. I went from too much time alone to now I need to sneak out to have a minute to myself."

Zuko turned over and stood on his knees as he looked to the old friend on his bed. He placed a hand on her foot, and she covered his hand with her own. "We can't tell him who you are."

"He'll kill me because I didn't die right the first time."

Joining her on the bed, he put an arm around her as he tried to think of a way to get her back home. "You could run away. I could help, make sure he doesn't notice."

"But then he'll just do this again to some other girl who's to naïve to realize what he's doing."

"But it won't be as easy."

Zeeva looked up to him, "What do you mean?"

"I leave tomorrow."

Pushing herself up from his side to look him in the eye, she startled his legs and asked, "Wait, what? Why?"

"I didn't catch the Avatar," Zuko let out a chuckle as he shrugged. "My father gave me five days to stay here to try and find him. I thought I had found him, but even so, I haven't caught him."

"So you'll be leaving again," Zeeva's expression went solemn.

Cupping her cheek and meeting her gaze, Zuko tried to soften the thought, "But now you know the truth. You'll be here when I get back, right? Well, not here, but I'll be able to find you."

She nodded and broke free from his hand to hug him.

"Zeeva, we have to get you back," he stroked her hair, "Soon."

"I'll run away," she decided to go with his plan.

"I'll make sure he doesn't find you."

"But you can't know either."

Confused, he looked down at the girl in his arms, "Then how am I supposed to help?"

"I can get where I'm going, you just need to cover for me. Until you leave, then when he comes for me, I'll be long gone."

Somber at the thought of her leaving and having no idea where she was going, Zuko placed a kissed to her forehead. "How will I find you?"

Zeeva chuckled, "Hold a ball. I'll come dance with you." She sat back up and scooted closer, sitting on his lap.

His hands grazed over her shape beneath the robe and he caressed her to lean forward to kiss his lips. Her gentle lips and touch as she cupped his face and stroked his burn with her thumb made him melt.

It had been a couple of years, but before he left, he had hoped that Zeeva would be the woman by his side as Fire Lord. Having her in his arms, kissing her soft lips and touching her matured body, there was no doubt that she had turned into the woman he had hoped for.

"Prince Zuko!" a voice outside his door interrupted them.

Zeeva slid off of him when he stood to open the door. "Yes?"

"The Fire Lord requests that your bride stay in the palace."

Zuko turned to see the horror on Zeeva's face at the thought. Looking back to the soldier, he stated, "I'm here until tomorrow evening, until then, she'll stay with me." He closed the door and looked back at the woman falling free of his clothes. She was tempting, too tempting.

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**Ooooh, Zuko is thinking dirty thoughts, no wonder Jung wants to kill him. R&R!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: Avatar is not mine :( **

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**Chapter 11: Trust Thy Daughter**

A quiet knock on the door grabbed the attention of everyone in the house. Shaya and Kaysa nearly tackled each other is fight to see who it was.

"Coming," Kaysa called as she tried to pass Shaya.

Kaysa, finally winning and opening the door, looked out to see there was nothing but a note on the step. She picked it up under the watchful eye of her big sister and brought it into the house.

"What is it?" Katara followed after, "Do you think it has to do with Zeeva?"

They had never decided on a plan. Shaya and Kaysa finally passed out from exhaustion while the rest of them tried to think of how to help the captive girl. The closest they had come was Jung's determination to take a rock club to everyone's heads at the palace, especially Ozai and Zuko's.

Kaysa handed the note to her mother, who read aloud, "Before dad attacks the palace with some sort of rock weapon," Mrs. Choso raised an eyebrow to her husband, "I'm fine, in fact I am better than fine."

"She didn't write this," Shaya scoffed, "This has to be Zuko."

Mrs. Choso continued, "I'll explain more when I come home, but for now, just know that I am alright and will be home later today. Zuko and I have arrangements for me to disappear away from Ozai."

"Wait, did she just say she's _planning_ with Zuko?" Sokka was skeptical.

"Why would Zuko help her escape?" Aang looked to Mrs. Choso who had given up reading aloud to be interrupted.

"Because he's trying to protect her," She said as she kept reading, "Zuko is leaving today. He's protecting her from his father."

"So Zeeva was right," Kaysa pointed out, "He was looking for a love slave for himself using Zuko as bait."

"And now Zuko is going to help her escape? I'm still confused. Zuko is evil," Katara looked to the Choso clan for answers.

"According to Zeeva, he isn't," Mrs. Choso folded the note and looked to the children in her house. "But you all must leave. I'm so sorry, Aang, but to protect you and my daughter, you'll have to find someone else to teach you."

Aang nodded, "I agree." Looking to Sokka and Katara he sighed, "I don't know what Zuko is planning, but if he is coming here, we need to go."

Agreeing, especially Sokka, they packed up and sat on top of Appa. "Thank you Jung," Aang looked down to the master, "I'm sorry about all this, and that I was a bad student." He laughed and Jung chuckled with him.

"You're not a bad student," Jung told him, "You just need to learn more than the average earth bender. I wish you luck on your journey."

"Thank you," Katara looked over the side to the family, "I'm sorry about Zeeva."

"It was not your fault," Mrs. Choso bowed her head, "She'll be alright."

"Bye, Sokka!" Shaya and Kaysa waved to Sokka, who blushed and waved back.

"You should come back soon," Kaysa suggested, "After this mess is over."

"We will," Aang smiled, "Yip yip." He called to Appa and the bison was off the ground, leaving behind the family.

"Do you think she'll be all right?" Sokka asked Katara, "You talked to her more than we did."

"Zuko was an old friend of hers. I don't know why he would have ordered her dead," Aang pointed out, "What good would that do?"

"Since she isn't dead, I think it wasn't Zuko that said it," Katara looked down in hopes of seeing Zeeva on her way back to the house. Her eye caught a two people on a rhino heading to the house. "Maybe that's her," she pointed to the rhino.

The person on the back, presumably Zeeva from the mass of black hair, got off the rhino and started for the house, receiving hugs from her family.

"Definitely Zeeva," Aang confirmed.

She walked back up to the person on the rhino. The second person came off the rhino to put their arms around her.

"That's not…" Sokka quirked an eyebrow.

"That would explain why he didn't want her dead, but why his father would," Katara stared down wide-eyed.

"Even if he is after us, at least now we know why, and that he isn't completely heartless," Aang looked positive as he watched Zeeva seem to kiss the stranger.

"That's not going to stop him from trying to get you though," Sokka pointed out.

"Yeah, but now he's a little more human."

Katara watched over the side, "They said he was leaving today, and he can't go back without Aang. Do you think they'll ever be together again?"

"Not if Ozai wants her dead," Sokka commented and turned away from the scene to start snacking on some rock candy Mrs. Choso had given them before they left, "So where to now, Aang?"

"Gaoling isn't too far," Aang pointed out on the map.

Katara half listened to the boys as she saw Zuko leave and the Choso house disappear from sight.

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**And they are off to find Toph! You can watch the series for that story, but you'll have to read the next chapter to find out what happened between Zeeva and Zuko last night. R&R!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Last chapter, more of a behind the scenes look at Zeeva after finding out the truth.**

**Disclaimer: Not teh proud owner of Avatar, but the proud creator of Zeeva, her family, and her story**

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**Chapter 12: What Happened?**

Shaya and Kaysa peered into their sister's room, trying to stay quiet as she sat on her bed wearing their mother's dress. The creek as the door opened more called her attention and the girls entered the room.

"So, he didn't want you dead," Shaya clarified, "And he was actually hoping you would be his wife when he got back."

Zeeva nodded and held onto her medallion.

"And you kissed him," Kaysa smile, "Is that all you did?"

Turning red at the thought of her night with Zuko, Zeeva just hid her face without giving n answer.

"I told you, Shaya," the littlest sister smiled and gloated.

"What did you do?" Shaya was followed by Kaysa sitting on Zeeva's bed.

"Nothing," Zeeva's blush deepened.

"You're lying," Kaysa giggled, "Tell us."

Zeeva remembered flashes of Zuko's muscular body over hers as he covered her in kisses and she traced the defined muscles of his chest and abdomen. Hiding her face she repeated, "nothing."

"Was he naked?" Shaya elbowed the glowing red ball of Zeeva.

"Were you?" Kaysa joined the badgering.

"Girls, what are you doing to her?" Mrs. Choso walked in on her daughters huddled on the bed. "Leave her alone, she's had a hard day."

Zeeva flinched at the mention of her hard day. Images of the night continued to flash through her mind: their kissing, their caressing, their heat, and heavy breathing. She finally looked up to her sisters and said, "Well, we didn't do everything." She covered the marks she knew she had on her neck and shoulders. "It was one heck of a 'welcome back' celebration."

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**Sorry the ending was kinda lame, but I hop you like it. Check out my other Avatar stories! R&R!**


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